Fuel cell cabinet heat management and thermal control system

ABSTRACT

A fuel cell cabinet is provided. The fuel cell cabinet includes a housing, a fuel cell contained in an interior of the housing, and a heat management system that manages and controls an internal air temperature of the housing to be one of at a predetermined temperature and within a predetermined temperature range.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

The present invention claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.61/041,575 entitled “Liquid Cooling System for Fuel Cell Cabinets, AirFeed System for Fuel Cell Cabinets, Heat Management and Thermal Controlof Cabinets for Fuel Cells, and EcoPower Cabinet” filed Apr. 1, 2008,Provisional Application No. 61/047,016 entitled “Cabinet Air Feed andExhaust System for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Declassification” filed Apr. 1,2008, and Provisional Application No. 61/047,031 entitled “Fuel CellCabinet Waste Water Management System” filed Apr. 1, 2008, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT

The present application for patent is related to the followingco-pending U.S. patent applications:

“FUEL CELL CABINET LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM” (U.S. application Ser.No.______) having Attorney Docket No. 4799/0290PUS2, filed concurrentlyherewith, assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference;

“AIR FEED SYSTEM FOR FUEL CELL CABINETS” (U.S. application Ser.No.______) having Attorney Docket No. 4799/0290PUS3, filed concurrentlyherewith, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated byreference herein;

“FUEL CELL CABINET AIR FEED AND EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR HYDROGENDECLASSIFICATION” (U.S. application Ser. No.______) having AttorneyDocket No. 4799/0293PUS2, filed concurrently herewith, assigned to theassignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference; and

“FUEL CELL CABINET WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” (U.S. application Ser.No.______) having Attorney Docket No. 4799/0294PUS2, filed concurrentlyherewith, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to cabinets for housing electronicequipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cabinetfor housing electronic equipment and a connection panel forcross-connecting the electronic equipment with various provider and/orsubscriber lines, wherein the cabinet includes a fuel cell power backupsystem, and more particularly, to a fuel cell cabinet having a heatmanagement and thermal control system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Outdoor cabinets that house electronic equipment and connection panelsare generally known in the art. The connection panel (sometimes referredto as a feeder-distribution interface), within the cabinet, is used toconnect subscriber lines to provider lines directly, or in parallel orserial, with terminals of certain electronic equipment also within thecabinet, such as surge protectors, switches, servers, etc.

In some conventional cabinets, the electronic equipment includes a fuelcell power backup system. The electronic equipment may be sensitive totemperature and humidity and the air and the electronic equipment in theinterior of the cabinet may be environmentally controlled by employing aheat exchanger, dehumidifier, and/or air conditioner. Many conventionalsystems are air cooled and therefore reduce power density. Conventionalair cooled systems may require increased maintenance. Furthermore, manyconventional systems are limited with respect to the outdoor exposuretemperatures in which they can operate. That is, many conventionalsystems cannot operate in, or are not suitable for use in, extreme coldor hot climates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These problems and others are addressed by the present invention, afirst aspect of which comprises a fuel cell cabinet comprising ahousing, a fuel cell contained in an interior of the housing, and a heatmanagement system that manages and controls an internal air temperatureof the housing to be one of at a predetermined temperature and within apredetermined temperature range.

Another aspect is directed to a fuel cell cabinet heat management andthermal control system, comprising a housing, a fuel cell contained inan interior of the housing, and a heat management system that managesand controls an internal air temperature of the housing.

Another aspect is directed to a fuel cell cabinet comprising a housing,a fuel cell contained in an interior of the housing, and means formanaging and controlling an internal air temperature of the fuel cellcabinet.

Another aspect is directed to a method of managing and controlling aninternal air temperature of a fuel cell cabinet, the method comprisingselectively controlling an operating condition of a heater and a fan ofthe fuel cell cabinet based on at least one predetermined factor tomaintain the internal temperature of the fuel cell cabinet one of at apredetermined temperature and within a predetermined temperature range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and features of embodiments of the presentinvention will be better understood after a reading of the followingdetailed description, together with the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cabinet, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a cabinet, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cabinet, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the cabinet of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is another perspective view of the cabinet of FIG. 4.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are perspective views of a fuel cell assembly, accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a front plan view of a fuel cell cabinet, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial, perspective view of a cabinet, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a heater assembly, according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which aspects are shown. Thisinvention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the aspects set forth herein; rather,these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art.

Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, thethickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features maybe exaggerated for clarity.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unlessotherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms)used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the specification andrelevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions orconstructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and“between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. Asused herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between aboutX and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean“from about X to about Y.”

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”,“attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc.,another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to,coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements mayalso be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being,for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected”to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element,there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciatedby those of skill in the art that references to a structure or featurethat is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions thatoverlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”,“upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein forease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship toanother element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It willbe understood that the spatially relative terms are intended toencompass different orientations of the device in use or operation inaddition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if thedevice in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or“beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” theother elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented(rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors ofrelative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.

Exemplary aspects of the invention are directed to a cabinet for housingelectronic equipment, wherein the cabinet includes a fuel cell powerbackup system, and more particularly, to a fuel cell cabinet having heatmanagement and thermal control system.

Conventional cabinets and the electronic equipment in the interior ofthe cabinets commonly are air cooled. The aspects recognize thatstabilizing and maintaining a substantially constant temperature of theinterior environment of the fuel cell cabinet may increase the powerdensity of the fuel cell system. The aspects also may reduce the timeneeded for the fuel cell to reach full power. The aspects can provide afast response system, and therefore, requires less bridging power (i.e.,batteries). The aspects can improve the efficiency of the fuel cellcabinet.

The disclosed aspects can provide a low cost heat management and thermalcontrol system for a fuel cell cabinet, which can maintain the interiortemperature of the cabinet to be within a predetermined temperaturerange. In this way, these aspects can make an outside plant (OSP) fuelcell cabinet operate under similar or the same conditions as a centraloffice (CO). The system can be optimized such that central office (CO)equipment can be deployed in an outside plant (OSP) fuel cell cabinet.The aspects can provide a system that is not limited by outdoor exposuretemperatures and can operate in extreme cold or hot climates. Theaspects also can utilize a standard telecom cabinet, thereby increasinga comfort level of a user of the cabinet.

A fuel cell cabinet having a heat management and thermal control systemaccording to exemplary aspects of the invention will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1-10.

A fuel cell cabinet 100 according to an aspect is illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2. The fuel cell cabinet may house electronic equipment and aconnection panel for cross-connecting the electronic equipment withvarious provider and/or subscriber lines. The fuel cell cabinet 100includes a fuel cell power backup system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fuel cell cabinet 100 can be mounted on thesurface of, for example, a concrete pad 102. The surface upon which thefuel cell cabinet 100 can be mounted is not limited to a concrete pad102 and can include any suitable surface, device, or structure, such asa pad or mounting surface formed from fiberglass, plastic, metal, etc.Aspects of the fuel cell cabinet can be mounted in the interior ofbuildings, structures, etc., or at the exterior of building, structures,etc. For example, an aspect of a fuel cell cabinet 100 can be mounted ona rack or shelter or other structure (not shown).

For telecom applications, the outside temperature, or ambienttemperature, commonly can vary between −40° C. and 46° C. The outsideenvironment may or may not add solar loading to the cabinet. In somecases, the solar loading due to the outside environment can equate toadditional heat added to the cabinet ranging, for example, between 0watts (no solar load) and 2000 watts (full solar load). The internalheat load to the cabinet can vary, for example, between 400 and 1600watts. For telecom applications, it is desirable to maintain theinternal air temperature of the fuel cell cabinet within a predeterminedoperating range. For example, in an aspect, the internal air temperatureof the fuel cell cabinet can be maintained between 5° C. and 65° C.

As shown in FIG. 3, an aspect of the fuel cell cabinet 100 can include ahousing 302 containing one or more fuel cells 2000 in an interior of thehousing 302. The housing 302 can include one or more racks, shelves,support structures or surfaces, etc. (not shown) for mountingcomponents, such as the fuel cells 2000, within the housing 302. Thefuel cell cabinet 100 can include a heat management system 306 that canmaintain the internal air temperature of the fuel cell cabinet within apredetermined operating range. For example, in an aspect, the heatmanagement system 306 can maintain the internal air temperature of thefuel cell cabinet between 5° C. and 65° C. An aspect of the heatmanagement system 306 can include a controller 302 that selectivelycontrols one or more features of the heat management system to maintainthe desired internal air temperature. Other aspects of the heatmanagement system 306 can include an insulation system, a sealingsystem, a heater system, and a control loop that selectively controlsthe operating conditions of one or more of heaters and fans of the fuelcell cabinet 100, will be described in greater detail below.

An exemplary fuel cell cabinet having a heat management and thermalcontrol system will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4-10.

FIG. 4 shows a fuel cell cabinet 600 having exemplary aspects of a heatmanagement and thermal control system. The fuel cell cabinet 600includes four sides, a top, and a bottom. The fuel cell cabinet 600 caninclude one or more doors 602, 604 on a first side of the cabinet 600.The cabinet 600 can include one or more doors 616 on a second side ofthe cabinet 600. The fuel cell cabinet 600 also can include one or moredoors on the third and/or fourth side of the cabinet 600, which are notshown in FIG. 6. The doors 602, 604 can include air inlet and doorperforations 610, 612, and 614. The fuel cell cabinet 600 can includeair exits 606 and 608 on one or more sides, such as the second side. Thefuel cell cabinet 600 can include a top 650 and a bottom (not shown).

FIG. 5 shows an aspect of the fuel cell cabinet 600 of FIG. 4 with thedoors 602, 604 in an open position. The cabinet 600 can include one ormore fan and liquid-to-air heat exchanger assemblies (Fan/L-A Hexassemblies) 618, 620 (e.g., radiator fans and radiators) that cooperatewith the air exhaust and door perforations 606, 608 of the doors 602,604. The cabinet 600 also can include one or more air filters 622, 624that cooperate with the air inlets and door perforations 610, 612 of thedoors 602, 604.

FIG. 6 shows an aspect of the fuel cell cabinet 600 of FIG. 4 with thedoor 616 in an open position. The cabinet 600 can include a batterycompartment 628 for mounting or securing backup batteries. The door 616may include a fan system 630 including one or more fans (e.g., bay fan1, bay fan 2, and bay fan 3) for venting or exhausting air or gases fromthe battery compartment 628.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cabinet 600 can include one or more fuel cells2000 disposed and mounted in the interior of the cabinet 600. Thecabinet may include a rack or shelving system for mounting or securingthe fuel cells 2000 inside the cabinet 600.

An exemplary aspect of a fuel cell 2000, which can be mounted or securedin the exemplary cabinet 600, is illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. Thefuel cell 2000 can include a sealed fuel cell enclosure 2002. The fuelcell 2000 can be, for example, an 8 kW fuel cell. In an aspect, two 8 kWfuel cells 2000 can be used to provide 16 kW.

As shown in FIG. 8, an aspect of the fuel cell cabinet heat managementand thermal control system can include an insulation system that reducesor prevents transfer of heat into the interior of the fuel cell cabinet600 as a result of solar loading, for example, in warm environmentalconditions (e.g., high ambient temperatures). The insulation system alsocan reduce or prevent the transfer of heat from the interior of the fuelcell cabinet 600, for example, in cold environmental conditions (e.g.,cold ambient temperatures). That is, the insulation system minimizes orprevents heat gain from solar loading and minimizes or prevents heatloss from the cabinet to the environment.

As shown in FIG. 8, an aspect of the insulation system can includeinsulation on one or more of the interior surfaces of the fuel cellcabinet 600. For example, insulation can be included on one or more ofthe sides, top, rear door, and base of the cabinet. The insulation canbe an insulating panel, layer, fabric, or film, spray insulation, orother suitable material having insulating properties.

FIG. 8 shows an aspect including an insulating material 802 on theinside surface of the door 602, an insulating material 804 on the insidesurface of the door 616, and an insulating panel 806 on an insidesurface of the top 650 of the fuel cell 600. One or more insulatingpanels (not shown) also can be provided on the rear and side surfaces ofthe fuel cell cabinet 600, which are not visible in FIG. 8. The base ofthe fuel cell cabinet 600 also can include insulation.

In an aspect, the fuel cell cabinet 600 can include insulation onsubstantially all of the inside surfaces of the housing.

In an aspect, the insulation on one or more of the sides, top, and reardoor of the cabinet can have an R value of 8, and the insulation on thebase can have an R value of 4. In another aspect, all of the insulationcan have substantially the same R value. In other aspect, one or more ofthe inside surfaces of the housing can have a different R value than oneor more of the other inside surfaces. The insulation is not limited to Rvalues of 4 or 8 and other R values are contemplated.

It is noted that, in other aspects, the insulation can be provided onone or more of the exterior surfaces of the fuel cell cabinet 600.

In an aspect, the fuel cell cabinet 600 can include a sealing systemthat reduces or prevents air exchange between the external environment(e.g., at cable entrances, door openings, etc.) and the internal cabinetenvironment.

In an aspect, substantially all or all of the openings in the housing ofthe fuel cell cabinet 600 can be sealed. For example, the cable entranceopenings into the fuel cell cabinet 600 can be sealed using conventionalsealing means, such as rubber seals, gaskets, foam, caulking, adhesives,etc. Other means for sealing such openings can be provided, and theaspects are not limited to the examples set forth above.

In an aspect, the door openings can be sealed, for example, by providinga seal (e.g., 808) around a perimeter of the inside surface of each ofthe cabinet doors that seals the inside surface of each door against theperimeter of each door opening of the housing of the fuel cell cabinet600. Each of the cabinet doors can include a seal. In other aspects, aseal can be provided on the housing of the fuel cell cabinet 600 aroundthe perimeter of each door opening.

As shown in FIG. 8, in an aspect, the openings (e.g., 810) in the splicewall between the fan assembly and the fuel cell compartment also can besealed and/or insulated.

In another aspect, the fuel cell cabinet heat management and thermalcontrol system 300, as shown in FIG. 3, can include a heater system. Theheater system can include one or more heaters in the interior of thefuel cell cabinet 600.

With reference to FIG. 9, the fuel cell cabinet 600 may include one ormore cooling loops for controlling the temperature of the fuel cells2000, such as a single cooling loop or a dual cooling loop, as shown inFIG. 9. The dual cooling loop can include a fan assembly 902 (e.g.,radiator assembly), a pump assembly 904, and a liquid-to-liquid heatexchanger assembly 906.

As shown in FIG. 10, an aspect of the liquid-to-liquid heat exchangerassembly 906 can include one or more heaters 1204 mounted to one or moreliquid-to-liquid heat exchangers 1208, 1210. The heaters 1204 can beresistive heating elements or the like. The heaters 1204 can be, forexample, pad style heaters with resistive elements.

In this aspect, the heaters 1204 can be 90 watt heaters that areincorporated into or mounted on the liquid heat exchangers 1208, 1210 tomaintain the water temperature of the liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers,for example, above 5° C. The one or more heaters 1204 also can add heatto the interior environment of the cabinet 600. In an aspect, thecontroller 302 of FIG. 3 can turn these heaters 12040N when the internalcabinet temperature reaches 0° C. and OFF when the internal cabinettemperature reaches 13° C.

In an aspect, the system can include two (2) heaters arranged in seriesand four (4) heaters arranged in parallel. In operation, the controller302 can turn the four (4) parallel heaters ON when the outsidetemperature reaches 0° C. The controller 302 can turn the two (2) seriesheaters ON when the outside temperature reaches −15° C. The two (2)heaters in series can be a single two stage system that has differingthermostats to close/open the resistance loop based on the temperature.The staging of the heaters limits parasitic power draw from the AC gridto reduce power usage costs to the user of the system.

With reference again to FIG. 8, another aspect of the heater system caninclude one or more heaters 812 on the base of one or more of the fuelcells 2000. The heaters 812 can be, for example, 200 watt heaterscoupled to the base of one or more of the fuel cells 2000, or disposedunder the base of one or more of the fuel cells 2000. These heaters 812can add heat to the cabinet 600 such that air from the outside does notfreeze the fuel cells 2000. These heaters 812 can be turned on when theinternal cabinet temperature reaches 0° C. and off when the internalcabinet temp reaches 13° C.

With reference again to FIG. 8, another aspect of the heater system caninclude one or more heaters 814 on the base of the fuel cell cabinet.The heaters 814 are not limited to the location shown in FIG. 8, and canbe disposed in other locations, such as on the walls of the batterycompartment 628 of the fuel cell cabinet 600 or on the pad supportingthe fuel cell cabinet 600.

The heaters 814 can be, for example, 200/400 watt heaters. In thisexemplary aspect, the 200 watt portion of the heaters 814 can be turnedon when the battery compartment 628 reaches 0° C. and the additional 200watts portion of the heaters 814 can be turned on when the batterycompartment reaches −15° C. The heater 814 can be, for example, a singleor unitary heater pad having 2 stages.

The operation of a heater system having heaters 1204, 812, and 814according to an exemplary aspect will now be described.

In this exemplary aspect, the heater system includes one or more 90 wattheaters 1204 that are incorporated into or mounted on the liquid heatexchanger assembly 906 to maintain the water temperature above 5° C. Theone or more heaters 1204 also add heat to the interior environment ofthe cabinet 600. The controller 302 turns these heaters ON when theinternal cabinet temperature reaches 0° C. and OFF when the internalcabinet temperature reaches 13° C.

Next, the heater system includes 200 watt heaters 812 added to the baseof the fuel cell 2000. These heaters 812 add heat to the cabinet 600 andinhibit or prevent any air from the outside from freezing the fuel cells2000. These heaters 812 turn on when the internal cabinet temperaturereaches 0° C. and off when the internal cabinet temp reaches 13° C.

Further, the heater system can include 200/400 watt heaters 814 added tothe base of the cabinet 600. The 200 watt portion of the heaters 814turns on when the battery compartment 628 reaches 0° C. and theadditional 200 watt portion of the heaters 814 turn on when the batterycompartment 628 reaches −15° C.

In an aspect, the fuel cell cabinet heat management and thermal controlsystem 300, as shown in FIG. 3, can include a system control loop thatselectively turns one or more of the heaters (e.g., 1204, 812, 814) andthe fan assemblies 9020N and OFF at set points (e.g., predeterminedtemperatures, predetermined times, etc.) to maintain internal airtemperatures of the fuel cell cabinet 600 between 5° C. and 60° C. Thesystem control loop can be included in the controller 302 of the heatmanagement and thermal control system 300, or in a separate controlsystem.

An aspect of the system control loop can selectively control fanoperation according to Table 1.1.

TABLE 1.1 FAN OPERATION CONTROL 1 bay fan 1 (630) is turned ON at 5° C.2 bay fans 2 and 3 (630) are turned ON at 47° C. 3 heat exchanger (Hex)fans 1 (902) are turned ON at 5° C. 4 heat exchanger (Hex) fans 2 and 3(902) are turned ON at 47° C.

An aspect of the system control loop can selectively control operationof the heater system and the fans of the fuel cell cabinet 600 accordingto Table 2.1.

HEATER SYSTEM AND FAN OPERATION CONTROL −40, no solar and cabinet isidle: internal temp is 10° C. (all fans off except bay fan, all heatersare on) −40, w/ solar and cabinet is idle: internal temp is 18° C. (allfans off except bay fan, all heaters are on) −40, w/ solar and cabinetis full internal temp is 30° C. (all fans off power: except bay fan, allheaters are on) 46° C., no solar and cabinet is idle: internal temp is50° C. (all fans off except bay fan, all heaters are on) 46° C., fullsolar and cabinet is internal temp is 50° C. (all fans off idle: exceptbay fan, all heaters are on) 46° C., full solar and cabinet is fullinternal temp is 60° C. (all fans off power: except bay fan, all heatersare on)

The present invention has been described herein in terms of severalpreferred aspects. However, modifications and additions to these aspectswill become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon areading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all suchmodifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention tothe extent that they fall within the scope of the several claimsappended hereto. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may bedescribed or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unlesslimitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

1. A fuel cell cabinet comprising: a housing; a fuel cell contained inan interior of the housing; and a heat management system that managesand controls an internal air temperature of the housing to be one of ata predetermined temperature and within a predetermined temperaturerange.
 2. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 1, wherein thepredetermined temperature is equal to or greater than 5° C. and equal toor less than 65° C.
 3. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 1,wherein the heat management system includes at least one of aninsulation system, a sealing system, a heater system, and a control loopsystem.
 4. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the heatmanagement system includes a heater system, and wherein the heatersystem includes one or more heaters.
 5. The fuel cell cabinet accordingto claim 4, wherein the one or more heaters include a resistance heater.6. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 4, further comprising: aliquid to liquid heat exchanger, wherein at least one of the one or moreheaters is on the liquid to liquid heat exchanger.
 7. The fuel cellcabinet according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the one or moreheaters is one of on and adjacent to the fuel cell.
 8. The fuel cellcabinet according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the one or moreheaters is one of on and adjacent to a base of the housing.
 9. The fuelcell cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the heat management systemincludes an insulation system, and wherein the insulation systemincludes an insulating material on an inside surface of one or more of adoor of the housing, a wall of the housing, a base of the housing, and atop of the housing.
 10. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 9,wherein the insulation system includes an insulating material on aninside surface of each door of the housing, each wall of the housing, abase of the housing, and a top of the housing.
 11. The fuel cell cabinetaccording to claim 1, wherein the heat management system includes asealing system, and wherein the sealing system includes sealing meansfor sealing an opening in one of a door, a wall, a base, and a top ofthe housing.
 12. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 11, whereinthe sealing means seals substantially all openings each door of thehousing, each wall of the housing, a base of the housing, and a top ofthe housing.
 13. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 1, wherein theheat management system includes a sealing system, and wherein thesealing system includes sealing means for sealing a perimeter of a doorof the housing to a surface of the housing surrounding a door opening ofthe housing.
 14. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim 4, wherein theheat management system includes a control system, and wherein thecontrol system selectively turns on and off the one or more of theheaters to maintain the internal air temperature of the housing.
 15. Thefuel cell cabinet according to claim 1, further comprising: a fanassembly on the housing, wherein the fan assembly includes one or morefans, wherein the heat management system includes a control system, andwherein the control system selectively turns on and off the one or morefans to maintain the internal air temperature of the housing.
 16. Thefuel cell cabinet according to claim 14, further comprising: a fanassembly on the housing, wherein the fan assembly includes one or morefans, and wherein the control system selectively turns on and off theone or more of the heaters and fans to maintain the internal airtemperature of the housing.
 17. The fuel cell cabinet according to claim4, wherein the heat management system includes a control system, andwherein the control system selectively controls an operating conditionof one or more heaters and fans of the fuel cell cabinet.
 18. A fuelcell cabinet heat management and thermal control system, comprising: ahousing; a fuel cell contained in an interior of the housing; and a heatmanagement system that manages and controls an internal air temperatureof the housing.
 19. A fuel cell cabinet comprising: a housing; a fuelcell contained in an interior of the housing; and means for managing andcontrolling an internal air temperature of the fuel cell cabinet.
 20. Amethod of managing and controlling an internal air temperature of a fuelcell cabinet, the method comprising: selectively controlling anoperating condition of a heater and a fan of the fuel cell cabinet basedon at least one predetermined factor to maintain the internaltemperature of the fuel cell cabinet one of at a predeterminedtemperature and within a predetermined temperature range.
 21. The methodof claim 20, wherein the predetermined factor is one of an outsidetemperature of the fuel cell cabinet, an inside temperature of the fuelcell cabinet, and a solar exposure condition of the fuel cell cabinet.22. The method of claim 20, wherein the predetermined temperature isequal to or greater than 5° C. and equal to or less than 65° C.